Which is best? A dedicated foil board or a slalom board conversion for windfoiling

Converting a slalom board to use for windfoiling is not always the best and cheapest way to take up windfoiling.

This is the first time I have used a foil dedicated board for windfoiling and my opinion has  changed. I had believed that converting a slalom board was cheaper and better than using a foil dedicated board.

Over the past 20 months, as a 57 years old amateur windsurfer with over 38 years of windsurfing experience, I was introduced to windfoiling and purchased the AFS* 85 full carbon foil (*Alien Foiling System) combined with the f700 front wing and the V1 rear stabiliser.

I decided to mount the AFS 85 full carbon foil on my 18 year old 72cm wide ON Race Board with deep tuttle box. I did this as I wanted to keep the initial costs down, just in case I did not keep foiling.

From the first encounters with foiling, I WAS HOOKED but progressed slowly and had to make modifications to the original ON Race Board for the mast track and foot strap positioning to help with my progression in learning to foil through better trimming and setup options.

However, I still felt held back and limited by the 72cm width of my board and decided to step up to a dual purpose Slalom/Foil board and selected the non foil certified 2017 85cm wide Fanatic Falcon 136TE, thinking this would give me the best of both worlds and be able to cross over from foil to slalom and save money on a 2 year old board which could work for both disciplines. Basically hedging my bets.

This change did help my progression at the time, but again I needed to modify the Falcon for the mast track and foot strap positions to better trim the board to make it easier for foiling.

Having now gained 20 months experience and finally achieving fully flighted gybes in various wind conditions of 10 to 30+ knots and making many mistakes along the way, I think you can imagine my delight when using the foil dedicated AHD 85 Thunderbolt board for the first time, I found it so easy to trim and use from the start, as the foil positioning, foot straps and mast track are perfectly balanced for the AFS foil range and I was able to foil in 7-8 knots of wind with my largest 7.8 sail, which I have never been able to achieve before.

I also groaned a little because I realised that if I had started right away with a foil dedicated board like the AHD 85 Thunderbolt, I could have progressed more quickly/easily and it would have been less expensive than the route I have taken with the purchase and conversions of the previous boards.

I would like to note that I have met many a windsurfer who have dabbled with foiling and failed because they have not had the chance to enjoy FLYING ON THE FOIL because of badly set up and trimmed equipment. Many more ex windfoilers, I believe would still be foiling today, if they only had the right equipment from the start, with some initial guidance in the correct set up of their equipment.

Being stubborn, I was able to work out what was holding me back and make the changes over time, so I could truly enjoy FLYING over the water. Being too cautious initially has cost me expense and time with slow progression and damage to my board because of missed matched equipment and also raise the chances that I may have given up before I had truly experienced what foiling had to offer.

Below I have listed some of the advantages I found straight out of the box when using the AHD 85 Thunderbolt foil dedicated board for the first couple of days and with time I will add to this review covering expanded wind conditions and foil sets.

Equipment used: Board: AHD Thunderbolt 85 Foil: AFS 95 & 105 Tbar, Front Wing: S840 & R810(ex R1000)  Rear Wing: 280 & 290(ex V3)  Sail Sizes: 6.7 & 7.8 Camber x 3 Wind Range: 7/9 knots & 12/14 knots

Foot Straps and Positioning: You may think this silly, but I have spent a lot of time crashing and being catapulted over the nose of my old slalom boards and creating damage to the nose when trying to get my back foot into the back strap when foiling. This is because the outboard positioning of the back straps and alignment to the foil on converted slalom boards is not ideal. Even with the modification I had made to my converted slalom boards, it has never been ideal and I have normally dropped the board back onto the water to get my foot into the back strap and then pop up on the foil again once the foot is in. 

NEW! AHD Foot Straps: The newly designed and highly comfortable AHD foot straps are supplied with the AHD 85 Thunderbolt and all I can say is that I have never felt so confident in finding and using the back foot strap, as I have with my first trials on the AHD Thunderbolt. My old slalom foot straps, even from new, would flatten down, making it even more difficult to get a foot in. The AHD foot straps keep there shape for easy entry and combined with the dedicated positioning for foiling, has made the whole experience more comfortable without the stress I have experienced before.

Foot Strap Positions. When I measured the distance from the center of the back foot strap to the center of the front foot strap, I found this had settled to 54cm width stance and happily discovered this was covered nicely with the available options on the AHD 85 Thunderbolt. Although the width of 85cm is the same for both the AHD 85 Thunderbolt and my old 2017 Fanatic Falcon, The AHD 85 Thunderbolt has a wider more squared off tail which provides better control over the foil and more space and movement when the back foot is out of the strap. This wider tail and foot positioning has given more control, speed and lift from the foil.

A higher volume wider tail : Having a wider tail with increased volume helps the AHD 85 Thunderbolt accelerate quickly to gain speed and pop onto the foil. This was proven to me when I was getting foiling in 8 knots of wind using the same foil sets and 7.8 sail beating my previous best which was starting in 10 knots. With a wider tail platform and buoyancy, I definitely gained more control and easier acceleration onto the foil.

The wider back foot stance also gave more leverage on the foil to sail further up into wind, while maintaining control with speed. It took a couple of runs to get used to the extra leverage and control of the foil on the AHD 85 Thunderbolt because I found I was over compensating and using more pressure than needed when performing maneuvers, as I had learnt on the converted slalom board which has less leverage so needs more pressure.

Board Construction: The quality of construction is TOP NOTCH! as expected from a brand that has been constructing boards since 1987 and I do like the iconic blue and white colour scheme and underside AHD logo. 

Shaped by Pascal Gerber the Thunderbolt has a long straight outline with a tight scoop and nose-kick which guarantees the Thunderbolt an excellent planing start and a perfect restart or bounce back with quick acceleration onto the foil.

Pascal Gerber was eager to develop a shape whose parameters fully answered the essential requirements for a demanding foil rider.

The AHD manufacturing process is unique! and the AHD Thunderbolt is constructed using a PVC/Carbon sandwich construction. All layers of fabric, reinforcements and casings are applied and baked in a closed mould (deck/hull). This technique guarantees a perfect reproduction of the prototype validated during the tests and an optimal weight/flat/solidity ratio. The epoxy resins used for the construction of the AHD Thunderbolt windsurf boards are bio-sourced SR GreenPoxy.

Deck: The deck shape is worth a mention because of the slight concave running up the center of the board from tail to mast track, which effectively creates four raised foot pad positions.

An interesting point for me, was when entering the gybe I could feel where I had placed my rear foot, as I could feel the slight ridge underfoot. This will be useful to help you find the sweet spot of the gybe as you have another reference point confirming correct foot placement. Many of my failed gybes are usually caused by me not placing my rear foot far enough across the board to get a smooth progressive carve of the foil. Having this reference point will greatly improve this rear foot positioning.

Deep Tuttle Foil Box: The fitting of the AFS foils into the deep tuttle box is tight as expected, as the AHD boards are designed and matched perfectly to the AFS Foils range, a sister company of AHD. 

Care is needed when mounting or dismounting the foil, not to damage the deck of the board when turned upside down, due to the pressure you will need to seat these foils correctly. A  good seating of the foils in your deep tuttle box is essential, especially for the longer shafts of 95 and 105 as you have increased leverage which will increase the pressure at the deep tuttle box mounting point.

On two occasions, I had not correctly seated my foil, which resulted in a huge amount of rear foot pressure needed to keep flying. You will definitely know you have got it wrong and the best thing to do is turn around and get back to the beach to properly seat the foil. A couple of times is all you will need, not to make this mistake again.

Conclusion: I have not fully tested all the wind conditions and foils sizes at this time on the AHD Thunderbolt, but with the ease of use and setup straight out of the box I have experienced, has proven to be an eye opener and a delight for the increased performance in lighter winds and easier pumping onto the foil.

You may have an existing slalom board with a deep tuttle box to start with, but I would say that this will slow your learning process down and put your transition to foiling at risk, because the mast track, foot strap placement, tail width and volume will all be working against you in learning to get flying and experience the full exhilaration that foiling offers.

Obviously your first foil and wing set you chose will have a great deal to play in your future foiling style and success,  but you cannot ignore the advantages of combining your foil set with a foil dedicated board or foil ready board to give you the best chance of success and protection for your investment into this exciting sport.

Financial costs incurred for my journey are as follows:
On Race board (residual value €200) + conversion for mast track and foot straps €100 Total €300
Fanatic Falcon 136 te 2017 2 year old slalom hedge my bets board €1400 + board bag 100€ + mast track and strap conversion €100 Total €1600 Grand Total: €300 + €1600 = €1900

The AHD 85 Thunderbolt list price is €1,490.00 and combined with the AHD brand reputation, trusted since 1987, it is a very competitively priced foil dedicated board in the current 2021 market, being amongst the lowest priced for this level of quality construction and performance. 

I do understand that we all would like to try and save on expense when starting to learn to foil, but in my case, it proved to be more expensive and a higher risk of me giving up as I compromised the ease of learning to foil by hedging my bets and initially using a converted slalom board with deep tuttle box.